Influence of Construction Mass Distribution on the Walking Robot's Gait Stability

Abstract

The goal of this research is to find connections between construction parameters of walking machine and its stability. Further this paper shows how important mass distribution is for properly designed gait generation algorithms. This research was made based on the simulation model of a hexa-quad bimorphic robot developed in Matlab Simulink. The analyses were made for variable percent mass distribution between the legs and trunk of the robot. Based on the results we can conclude that the ratio between the weight of legs and trunk of the walking robot has a great influence on most of the walking parameters like stride length and speed, stable postures of machine, method of control and mobility. It has also a huge influence on the centre-of-mass position, which is the key issue of static and dynamic stability of walking robots. Therefore, mass distribution of walking robots should be considered throughout the design and programming process.